Glimpses of Saraswati Pujo

Saraswati the Goddess of Knowledge comes to Hindu homes sometime in winter according to the Hindu calender. It is a very popular puja in Bengal and is celebrated in almost every house.

In our house the puja has been going on for more than 65 years. The whole family gathers for this puja and we spend the previous evening decorating the puja room with alponas.

Praying for Knowledge...

Alpona...over the years we have all tried our hands at it...I remember when I was young I used to gaze at awe when my aunts would be painting, then my turn came and now the younger ones have taken over...this one is by my cousin Saswati Majumdar

The plates in which the prasad is served are made of very pure silver, copper or bronze to signify the purity of the offerings....The two green fruits in the plate just above Kitchen Karma logo is a seasonal berry called kool in Bengali. It is in season only for two to three weeks. The folklore is if students cannot eat this fruit without offering it to Ma Saraswati first. Since Saraswati is the Goddess of Knowledge and the puja comes during the final examinations in schools, no children dares to offend the Goddess. So we all wait in anticipation for the puja to get over, so that we can eat those kools.

The prasad laid out for Ma Saraswati....there are mostly fruits, sweets, yogurt, rice soaked in water....the next day we make dhodikarma which is a yogurt, puffed rice and banana porridge...we wait all year for this...it is sweet and sticky and oh so good....